Category Archives: DNA & Paternity

It’s a news bit that circulated years ago, and is resurfacing from new information: Reality star Khloe Kardashian could be the biological daughter of former NFL player O.J. Simpson.

The link between the embattled ex-NFL player and the Kardashians was made prominent when during the much-hyped Simpson trial, Robert Kardashian served as consultant to the side of the defendant. Simpson’s manager Norman Pardo shared with In Touch Weekly the possibility that “Khloe could be O.J.’s kid.”

In addition, Pardo claims that Simpson did not confirm nor deny this allegation of being Khloe’s real dad. “Whenever I bring it up, he giggles,” according to Pardo. Simpson and his murdered wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, were found to be on vacation with the Kardashian power couple many times in the past. “There was a lot of partying going on back then… Kris cheated on Robert — she was known for having a good time,” Pardo added.

Simpson is still serving a sentence that may stretch up to 33 years in a Nevada cell. The defendant requested the court for his release in connection to another trial. According to O.J.’s manager, should the court grant him the request as early as December, the defendant might spill more beans on this possibility of being Khloe’s daddy.

The best way to confirm this is, of course, through a paternity test. Only time will tell if both parties will agree to be subjected to this confirmatory test.

Despite the market availability of genetic testing to determine a patient’s probability in developing health concerns, most U.S. citizens are still relying on doctors’ advice to interpret the results of the gene exam.

This finding was revealed in a study released by researchers at Yale University via the journal Genetics in Medicine. The survey results seem to indicate that despite the accuracy of available genetic tests in the market, patients are still more confident if they send the test results to a physician for assessment and interpretation.

The scope of the study included more than 2,000 respondents who were asked if they thought the idea of making genetic tests directly available to the general public was sound. The results were nothing short of convincing: 65 percent think that the test results must be assessed and explained by a doctor before the patient accepts them as true.

Rene Almeling, one of the study proponents, said through HealthDay that the results of the survey confirm the fact that “genetic risk percentages require interpretation and context”. This also supports the recommendation of the American College of Medical Genetics and the American Medical Association to seek medical advice and consultation before considering the use of these genetic test systems. One of the important things to take into account when examining gene test results is the medical history of the patient, as well as family history and other aggravating circumstances.

A dentist by the name of Michael Zuk announced his plans to start a project to clone Beatles member John Lennon. His DNA source: The singer’s tooth — specifically a rotten molar — which the Canadian dentist bought at an auction in 2011.

“I am nervous and excited at the possibility that we will be able to fully sequence John Lennon’s DNA,” shared Zuk in a news release. He said the tooth was already sent to a cloning laboratory in the US, with the hopes of squeezing out any genetic codes that will potentially become the basis of the clone.

This bit of news came weeks after scientists declared plans to replicate the long-extinct woolly mammoth. “With researchers working on ways to clone mammoths, the same technology certainly could make human cloning a reality,” Zuk said.

The molar was auctioned by the son of Dot Jarlett, who served as Lennon’s housekeeper in Weybridge. Zuk won the bid for a staggering £19,500.

The hopeful dentist is optimistic that people are interested to see the fallen Beatle in the flesh someday. “Many Beatles fans remember where they were when they heard John Lennon was shot. I hope they also live to hear the day he was given another chance,” he said.

Two new shows have popped up to carry on the torch of what Jerry Springer started and Maury Povich perfected.

Hosted by TV personality Kirk Fox, The Test is billed as a one-hour conflict-resolution talk show that will use lie detector tests, drug tests and DNA tests to settle relationship and paternity disputes among guests.

“The Test fills a growing niche in daytime television that the audience is really responding to,” said Joe DiSalvo, president of sales at CBS Television Distribution.

The Test has been sold to Tribune Broadcasting and 29 Sinclair Communications stations, among others.

Another show that is using DNA testing as its premise is the aptly-named Paternity Court, which sees family lawyer and legal analyst Lauren Lake act as judge as she hears and rules on paternity cases and renders DNA test results.

The show will be produced by MGM Domestic Television Distribution, and 79th and York Entertainment and will appear on stations from CBS, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Broadcasting, Weigel Broadcasting, Cox Media Group, Capitol Broadcasting Company, Meredith Corporation, Local TV, Journal Communications and Fisher Communications.

The paper enlisted Health Street to drive two units of their “Who’s Your Daddy?” Winnebago RVs along the streets of New York weeks before Dads’ special day. The mobile paternity testing facility was offered free of charge for fathers who wanted to confirm their paternity. The Post shouldered the $350 testing fee for the willing volunteers.

The DNA test involves swabbing the inner cheeks of the father and the children, and the results were released days after.

Jared Rosenthal, owner of the Health Street and the mobile testing labs, says that the results that they provide the fathers are “life-changing” and even difficult at times. After all, the test will confirm whether the child in question is really the father’s own or not.

The Post revealed the results of a few men who were willing subjects to the mobile testing program:

Junior Dudley, father of five, found out in a period within his marriage that his wife was cheating on him, and she even went as far as sleeping with Dudley’s own brother. They eventually separated in 2012, but the history of his wife’s infidelity haunted him and his perception of his own children. Fortunately, the mobile testing truck confirmed that all five kids were definitely his.

Fritz Raymond, a former Marine, has been taking care of his 13-year-old daughter ever since he caught his partner in bed with another man. Because of his partner’s promiscuity, he thought of the possibility that the child he is taking care of isn’t his. The tests, however, showed that he is the biological father, but he later admitted that he hoped that the results turned out negative so that he could sever ties with his ex.

Keith Padgett, 53, is the current fiance of 25-year old Shilow Gaillard, who bore a child who is now two years of age. Gaillard was unsure if her child is Padgett’s offspring, because she also slept with two other men in the past. Gaillard and her baby are now living with Padgett, who was confirmed in the tests as the child’s father.

While a lot of couples want to seal their relationship with a wedding, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick are fine without having to say their “I Do’s.”

In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Disick describes his relationship with Kardashian as “decently happy” even though they are not married to each other. He said they are both content and don’t find any reason to rush into getting married, the New York Daily News reports.

“I feel like I used to want to get married more than she did, and then, being that she was always so not interested, I’ve decided not to be,” Disick said.

Disick and Kardashian have been dating since 2006. They have two children together, 3-year-old Mason and 8-month-old Penelope.

Recently, the couple’s relationship was challenged when Kardashian’s former fling doubted Disick was the father of Mason.

Michael Girgenti, an LA-based model, apparently told a tabloid that he had an unprotected sexual encounter with Kardashian and nine months later she gave birth to the child.

Girgenti demanded a paternity test to find out Mason’s biological father. A family source later told a magazine that Disick is more than willing to undergo a DNA test to prove that he is the real father of Kourtney’s child.

The conference featured 65 exhibitors from the drug and alcohol testing industry, as well as educational sessions on various topics related to drug and alcohol testing, including: Certified Professional Collector Trainer Training; Advanced Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Management; Developing an Effective Supervisor Training Program and Alternative Specimen Collection Training.

Many big names in alcohol and drug testing spoke at the conference.

Barry Sample of Quest Diagnostics Inc. gave a 25 year retrospective of the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index, examining long and short – term drug testing trends based upon insights derived from more than 100 million tests performed by Quest Diagnostics over the past 25 years.

Quest publishes the Drug Testing Index as a public service for government, media and industry and it has been considered a benchmark for national drug trends since 1988.

Doug Mullen of Airlines for America talked about aviation testing outside of the U.S. and the implications of the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed regulations that will require some repair station employees outside of the U.S. to be drug and alcohol tested.

A three-member panel with Brian Drew of Nationwide Medical Review, Patricio Labatut of Global Partners Ltd. and Kirk Hardy of The International Drug Detection Agency explored how international drug testing programs in Latin America and Oceania are advancing and the issues which they are currently dealing with, as well as a discussion about iDATIA, DATIA’s international drug free workplace program accreditation.

Also on the subject of international drug testing, Bill Current, with WFC and Associates, talked about how drug testing in countries outside the U.S. is exploding and what laws, health codes, privacy regulations, labor agreements, and best practice standards U.S.-based drug testing providers need to know about to cash in on this burgeoning market.

The Kardashians are in for another controversy; this time it involves Kourtney Kardashian and her partner Scott Disick.

OpposingViews reports that Michael Girgenti, an alleged lover of Kourtney, has challenged Disick to take a paternity test to prove whether or not he is the biological father of the eldest Kardashian sis’ child, Mason.

Girgenti claims he had a fling with Kourtney, whom he met during a photoshoot for a magazine, nine months before Mason was born. He apparently wants Disick to have a DNA test to determine once and for all the real father of Kourtney’s child.

While the Kardashians had previously slammed the claims, a source told a magazine that Disick is more than willing to take a paternity test for the sake of putting an end to the issue.

“Of course, Scott will take a DNA test, just to quiet the doubters,” a family source told OK Magazine. “I don’t like what this is going to do to our family. I hope to God it doesn’t go to court.”

The woman who claimed Michael Jordan is the father of her teenage son has dropped the paternity suit she filed in the Fulton County Superior Court on Feb. 6.

Pamela Smith, 48, accused the basketball Hall of Famer of fathering her 16-year-old son, Grant Taj Reynolds. She also filed a request last week asking a judge to order Jordan to submit fluid, hair or skin samples for DNA testing to prove her claims.

Jordan, on the other hand, responded with a counterclaim seeking sanction against the Altanta woman for making false claims, vehemently denying that he is the father of Smith’s son.

In a statement, Jordan’s spokeswoman Estee Portnoy confirmed that the suit has been withdrawn and no settlement or money was paid to Smith. The basketball legend’s lawyers said Smith acknowledged in a previous divorce proceeding that her estranged husband is the biological father of the child.

But for Smith’s lawyer, Randy Kessler, the case is not yet through. He told Reuters that Smith voluntarily dismissed the case “without prejudice” which means she can re-file it later if she chooses.

Neither Jordan nor his attorney, John Mayoue, have issued statements regarding the withdrawal of the case.

“My belief is that if we do this, we will get rapists and murderers off the street more rapidly than if we don’t do it,” Sen. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond), who proposed the bill, told The Associated Press. Jolley proposed the bill on the request of a mother whose daughter’s 2004 rape and murder in Tulsa remains unsolved.

Under Oklahoma’s current law, a DNA sample can only be collected following a conviction. But that would change if Senate Bill 618, which is now headed to the full Senate Appropriations Committee, becomes law.

The proposed legislation would require individuals arrested on a felony crime to submit to DNA testing even though charges aren’t filed. DNA samples will also be collected from misdemeanor arrests, such as drug possession, assault and battery, and domestic abuse.

Jolley said the bill may be modified to only require tests of those arrested for violent crimes, depending on the cost. “If it would be difficult to afford all felonies and violent misdemeanors, I would prefer to get violent crimes only,” he added.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has strongly opposed the bill, citing the possibility that innocent Oklahomans could have their DNA entered into a national database.